September 7, 2008 - HIMA announced its latest safety product, HIMax. HIMax is the first safety system designed to provide uninterrupted system operation throughout the entire life of a processing facility, by maximizing plant availability, productivity and safety. It is based on HIMA’s revolutionary Nonstop XMR technology that combines diagnostic-based SIL 3 safety integrity with a scalable fault-tolerant architecture that eliminates false trips and provides for unlimited changes, modifications, expansions, upgrades and regulatory proof testing without taking the plant off-line.HIMax enables higher plant efficiency while reducing capital/project expenditures.
With its flexible system architecture, centralized, distributed and remote I/O, it is easily integrated into a peer-to-peer communications network with no “engineering overhead” required. HIMax allows for tight integration with any DCS using open-standard protocols guaranteed by HIMA, giving customers the power to choose the best DCS for their plant. “With HIMax, plants are free to operate without being limited by their safety system,“ said Rolf Hafner, Head of Product Management at HIMA Germany. “No matter what safety system a plant currently uses, HIMax will actually improve plant productivity and profits because it prevents false trips and eliminates process system shutdowns which are usually needed to migrate from one version of the safety system to another.
Configuration, hardware and software changes can be made online, which means that planned shutdowns of the process plant are unnecessary. The nonstop performance of HIMax can allow for return on total system investment within the first three months of use.” “In many of today’s processing plants, productivity is often held hostage by the reliability of the automated safety system. If a spurious trip causes the plant to shut down, or a simple software upgrade requires the safety system to be shut down, thus stopping production, the cost to the plant can be hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in lost productivity and start-up costs,“ said Sven Grone, President of HIMA’s USA Operations, headquartered in Houston.
“HIMax brings to our customers higher plant efficiency, which translates into more profits and reduced capital and project expenditures, as well as reduced operational and maintenance expenditures. Installing HIMax means companies can run their plant the way they want to, and never be constrained by limitations of their safety system.“
About HIMA
HIMA is the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of automated safety solutions in the process industry. With an installed base of more than 20,000 systems and presence in more than 80 countries around the globe, HIMA offers a wealth of knowledge and experience to users providing scalable TUV SIL 3-certified solutions for Emergency Shutdown (ESD), Fire & Gas (F&G), Burner Management (BMS), Turbo Machinery Control (TMC), and a range of other safety applications. Founded in 1908, HIMA was the first company in the world to develop TUV-certified safety-related automation controls in the 1960s and has been at the forefront of safety-related control technology for more than 40 years.
Over the past 100 years HIMA has grown to become a premier worldwide specialist supplier, delivering unique solutions that combine maximum safety and maximum availability. Based in Bruhl, Germany, HIMA remains an independent, family-owned business whose sole focus is to design, manufacture and deliver the most advanced safety-related technology and solutions to its customers.
